Sunshine & Smiles is parent led and overseen by a team of four trustees. Our Service Delivery Manager, Ailith runs the charity and we have sessional support staff, and volunteers who organise our groups and activities.
Trustees
Marc Davies
Trustee and Chair
Marc has worked in Environmental Consultancy for over 28 years, a role that supports his passion for the protection and enhancement of nature.
He is married to Clare and has three children. His oldest son, Alby, was born in 2013 and has Down syndrome. Since then, he has become passionate about changing perceptions of Down syndrome and helping those with Down syndrome realise their potential.
Jonathan Astin
Trustee and Treasurer
Jonathan is a Senior Bid Manager at CDS, a national communications agency that helps organisations create, build, and develop better services to meet the evolving needs of customers, employees, and citizens. He is married to Heather and has a daughter, Sophie, who has Down syndrome.
He was appointed as a trustee and treasurer in 2015, responsible for overseeing the charity’s finances.
Jonathan is passionate about helping the charity and ensuring it continues to provide the necessary support for young people and their families now and in the future.
Emily Vujik
Trustee
Emily has worked in Human Resources for a large financial organisation for over 15 years. She is married to Ryan, and they have three children: Hugo, Luke, and Phoebe.
Luke was born in 2020 (amidst lockdowns) with a postnatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Emily and her family were first introduced to Sunshine and Smiles shortly after Luke was born.
Ever since, Emily has been actively involved with the charity, attending groups regularly and volunteering on the steering committee of the consultation that was carried out in 2021.
She views the work that Sunshine and Smiles does, alongside other Down syndrome charities across the UK as being crucial
for the families who have children with Down syndrome.
Emily has chosen to be a Trustee to be involved at the heart of the charity and help Sunshine and Smiles evolve and grow.
Staff and volunteers
Ailith Harley-Roberts
Service Delivery Manager
Ailith is a founding member of Sunshine and Smiles and Mum to Aiyana and Thalia, who has Down syndrome. Ailith is our Service Delivery Manager and is responsible for the day to day running of the charity. She loves the rewards and challenges it brings.
Prior to working for Sunshine & Smiles, she had held a variety of roles in the public and voluntary sector. She enjoys cycling, swimming and running and takes part in charity events throughout the year to raise funds for the charity. Triathlons and marathons are just some examples of the challenges Ailith rises to.
Tamsin Kingsley
Charity Support Worker
Tamsin has lived in Leeds for 8 years and first learnt about Sunshine and Smiles in May 2017 when her 2nd daughter, Izzy, was born who has Down Syndrome. Tamsin and her family initially accessed the charity for support with health advice and hospital stays and now regularly attend sessions and activities with the whole family.
Tamsin works for the charity in various capacities and assists Ailith, our Service Manager, with daily tasks. She also looks after our website and will keep you right up to date with our weekly newsletter. In her spare time she enjoys growing and cooking fruits and vegetables and likes to stay active by walking, running and swimming. Her family loves the Sunshine & Smiles swimming sessions and often visit 21 Co. for a coffee and bite to eat.
Rachel Forcella
Social Media Manager
Rachel is the woman behind the keyboard for all Sunshine and Smiles’ social media accounts. With a degree in English Language & Linguistic Science and a love of all things communication, she’s been writing copy and content for businesses, charities and organisations from all around the world since 2015.
Rachel sees herself as a professional aunt, taking her duties as Chief Hot Chocolate Maker, patient swing pusher (always happy to go “higher”), and cute animal onesie buyer very seriously. Her nephew Rupert has Down Syndrome, and since he was born in 2020, Sunshine and Smiles has played an important part in his life as well as providing vital support to his mum (Rachel’s sister) and dad.
Celine Prior
Sessional Support Worker
Celine previously worked at Leeds Mencap, among other roles, and carries plenty of experience with young children who have Down Syndrome, as well as other people with additional needs. She also has an 18-year-old daughter, Roisin, who has Down Syndrome, and so brings a great deal of personal experience and insight also.
Celine works with Sunshine & Smiles families to provide individual support, as well as being a superstar in our Shop and Café, 21 co.
Ania Zawartka-Addou
Sessional Support Worker
Ania is mum to three children including 2-year-old Yousef who has Down syndrome. After receiving fantastic support from Sunshine & Smiles Ania became very inspired by their extraordinary work and joined the team in 2017. Since then she’s been providing sessional support, individual family support, training for students, support for various activities & events, and taking part in fundraising activities.
Ania has years of experience as a language teacher and translator, which makes her the perfect fit for our Early Development Groups; enhancing speech development and linguistics. In her free time (which is a rare occasion) Ania loves swimming, travelling, quilting and more recently – bread baking. She loves doing what she’s doing, but if she could have gone down an alternative path, she would have liked to have been a diver or an interior designer!
Becky Freeburn
Sessional Support Worker
After moving to Leeds in 2016 Becky worked for a data engineering company before having her first child, Hannah, who has Down Syndrome in 2018. As a family, they have been involved with activities run by Sunshine and Smiles since Hannah was a few weeks old. They have really appreciated the community and support that the charity have provided, and Hannah currently enjoys a good boogie during the Mini Movers sessions.
Apart from looking after two small children, she enjoys reading, cycling around with said children and husband in tow, bouldering, and more recently: playing tag rugby.
Caitlin Hardware
Speech & Language Therapist
Caitlin is our new Speech and Language therapist, and also works in other areas of the charity, from helping with our Sunbeams group for ages 0-4 years, to supporting young adults at 21 Co.
Ruth Mercer
Speech & Language Therapist
Ruth has over 20 years’ experience as a Speech & Language Therapist. She trained in London as a Makaton tutor where she found her love and enthusiasm for how sign can transform and support communication for so many. In 2002 ruth moved to Leeds and has worked in a variety of settings, including Schools, Children’s Centre’s and Sure Start – and this is where her passion and specialism was born – working with children at the early stages of their communication development.
Ruth runs regular Speech & Language sessions at Sunshine & Smiles and has played a key role in teaching Makaton to our staff. She loves seeing how the children at Sunshine and Smiles have developed over the years with the hard work and commitment of their wonderful families.
Ruth also works for the NHS and as a specialist SLT at Wortley Beck Children Development Centre where she works within a team supporting the needs of children with complex developmental and complex communication difficulties. In her spare time Ruth loves to garden, cycle and spend time with her family and friends.
Kerry Maule
Sessional Support Worker
Kerry has been a supporter of Sunshine and Smiles since 2016 when she first met the charity while filming one of their events and joined the team in 2018 to offer online support. Kerry runs our online Smilers Karaoke session every two weeks and takes part in fundraising events throughout the year.
When Kerry is not working with us, she's hosting events, running a video production company, and creating content about the environment for the social-first brand, Positively Green.